Yesterday, The Actuary, his girlfriend (henceforth referred to as "Gamer Girl" or GG for short), a longtime friend of GG's (Longtime Friend) and myself went to Cambridge, MA to see The Dresden Dolls perform. The review/reaction to the performance is forthcoming in the post immediately following this one. (I.e., This is post no. 1 of 2 in a short series.)
The trip was minorly long. An hour drive from me to Actuary/GG (they cohabitate). A 1.5-2.0 hour drive from there to Cambridge. T'was a pleasant enough drive, and relatively fast at that.
It was very nice to hang out with The Actuary again. He and I are pretty good friends. He and I drove down to Georgia one summer about 2-3 (?) years ago when I visited The Lawless One there (he was interning in the Public Defender's Office, or was it the prosecutor-side?). The Actuary was also my "date" for Captain Kate's wedding. (A fellow, female law school friend brought another law school friend, female, for her "date" so I figured I could bring The Actuary as mine and Captain Kate was cool all around.)
In fact, The Actuary and I first met because he was a neighbor to other law school friends of mine. He and they have since fallen out though he and I remain good friends. The Actuary tends to be cool and laid back. We have similar tastes in movies and gaming. All around a generally cool person to know and hang with.
In true wonderment (and I know she reads this blog and write this in full view of that), his girlfriend, Gamer Girl, is fantastic. She is his equal in "coolness" and interests. A gamer, a movie-watcher, a generally nice person who is easy to get along with and such. All around, a very cool person. I said as much to The Actuary and congratulated him, both of them really, on such a wonderful match. The two of them appear to get along very well and he, both of them really, are fantastically lucky to have met one another and so on. I truly hope it works out for them.
I have to briefly contrast this with me meeting The Photographer and her new fiancée a month or two ago. That meeting was not 1/10th as easy, friendly or fun as this one. Granted, the relationship (i.e., non-happening) between The Photographer and myself may have had some small role there, but I got along very well with Gamer Girl and The Actuary. It was like night and day.
The Longtime Friend was an interesting person to meet. She's a little bit odd and perhaps a bit off. Someone I sort of wish was single so that I might have a shot at going out with her. Not to say it would work, but that it would have been interesting to see. I also do appreciate that there may have been lesser-desirable attributes to Longtime Friend that were not readily apparent. I also appreciate that my religion itself could have been a stumbling block. *shrug*
I *shrug* quite a bit these days. Hrmm. I don't "hrmm" as much as I *shrug*. *shrug* and hrmm? ...
All-in-all, a fantastic trip. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time. I suspect we all did. Fun trips like that are a rare commodity for me these days. I relish them when they turn out as well as this one did. It's one of those things I will remember for a long time to come.
ADDENDUM: A few more things about The Longtime Friend. (1) I thought she was very pretty. Not traditionally gorgeous, perhaps, but rather attractive. (2) She's ambitious. (3) Although she's in grad school, it seemed to me like she still has a college mentality, i.e., towards living and fun activities (e.g., bars, friends, etc.). It might not have worked out based on that alone.
I left college-like activities and mentality in the past. I hung onto it a little during my first year of law school but by the second and third years that was all but gone from my life. I'm uncertain whether I could go out with someone who latches on to that kind of a social life. I'm generally not into the bar scene, though I suppose I would be more into it if it were more readily available to me (e.g., more friends close to me to meet up with, etc.). Food for thought. [2:44 PM]